Cuban diplomat sings Turkey's praises during visit

ANKARA

Visiting a Turkish state press and information agency in the capital Ankara, Cuba’s ambassador to Turkey Thursday praised the country and learned more about its challenges in the wake of the defeated July 15 coup plot last July.

"I can walk around in Turkey at three in the morning but I cannot travel alone with peace of mind in Latin America, even during the daytime," said Ambassador Alberto Gonzalez Casals during his visit to Mehmet Akarca, the head of Turkey’s Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM), according to a statement by the directorate.

Casals said Cuba, too, wants to combat negative perceptions of the country by creating a structure similar to BYEGM in their own country, and asked for Akarca’s support on this issue.

Akarca said Turkey is fighting disinformation campaigns and told Casals about what Turkey has done to fight terrorism and maintain regional peace before and after the July 15 coup attempt.

Akarca mentioned how during a February 2015 visit to Cuba, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told how Christopher Columbus recounted seeing a mosque on a mountaintop in Cuba and how nice it would be to have one there now as well.

"I was there to hear it as well. Both the state and the Muslims living there want it, certainly it will happen," he said.

Akarca gave Casals a piece of brick from the walls of parliament from the bomb attack it suffered the night of the coup attempt with the message "Terrorism is a Crime Against Humanity."

Casals said, "I congratulate the person who came up with this gift idea. It may only be seen as a piece of brick, but the important thing is the emotion it makes us feel. We got the feeling.”

Akarca and Casals also visited an exhibit on the failed coup at the entrance of the directorate building. Casals praised the bravery of the Turkish people, saying, "It was very meaningful for us to see people being mobilized by a single message of President Erdogan."